Novelis Breaks Ground on Aluminum Recycling Plant in Germany

Novelis, an aluminum rolling and recycling company headquartered in Atlanta, has broken ground on a $250 million aluminum recycling and casting center at its plant in Nachterstedt, Germany. The recycling center will be built adjacent to the company's existing aluminum rolling mill and is expected to be completed by the middle of 2014.

When completed, Novelis will be able to produce 400,000 metric tons per year of aluminum sheet ingot from recycled material. The company adds that the plant is projected to be the world's largest aluminum recycling center.

"This investment represents another step in delivering on our commitment to dramatically increase the recycled content of the rolled aluminum sheet we provide to our world-class global customers,” says Phil Martens, president and CEO of Novelis, “while also signifying our long-term commitment to the European market. The advanced sorting, processing and casting capabilities of the new Nachterstedt operation will propel us closer to our goal of 80 percent recycled content by 2020."

The new center will support the company's drive to increase end-of-life recycling in Europe, according to Novelis. The center will process used beverage cans (UBCs), as well as other forms of aluminum scrap from across continental Europe.

"U.S.-based companies contribute significantly to the economic development of our state, as they have created and maintained 12,000 jobs in our region," says Reiner Haseloff, first minister of the state of Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt. "I am delighted that Novelis, as an important investor, is reinforcing its commitment to Nachterstedt significantly with this new investment. This will further improve the local employment market."

The Nachterstedt expansion is the latest in a series of recycling and casting expansion projects Novelis has launched in the past two years. Other projects include the commissioning of the company's new integrated recycling and casting center in Yeongju, Korea.